The many faces of a shoe represent various purposes from aiding in protecting your sole to enhancing performance in sports. Sri Kalash Yedlapati, a 12th grade student at CHIREC International School, was amongst those who seemed to enjoy collecting shoes. However, his shoe addiction was soon put for a good cause.
“In the summer after 10th, I wanted another pair of shoes and when I approached my mother for the same, she was affirmative and suggested I rather donate to the kids with no
shoes at all,” quoted Sri Kalash. As a naive 10th grader, he then went onto put in effort to research more on if what she claimed had been true. He then realised the blazing issue around him.
Sri Kalash Yedlapati, son of Dr. Gopi Krishna Yedlapati – Senior Pulmonologist, and Dr. Sireesha SURYADEVARA Studying in Chirec International school, Kondapur, Hyderabad in 12th grade.
However, him being a business student had brought him the idea to invest rather than collect funds. He believed in raising funds through his hard work and creativity rather than requesting many for the required amount.
He, fortunately, started his project in 2020 aiming to raise funds through his business. Him being a huge fashion advocate, he began a business to produce customised T-shirts, mugs, pillows, and shoes. He produced these custom merchandise in bulk and sold it in a form of funds for his charity.
“I am more than privileged to have a nice pair of shoes; however, many I have seen are not. I admire the world of business and wanted to run a sustainable drive through this means to raise money for helping them out. With all my heart, this whole journey of 18 months was extremely great. Providing brand new shoes with quality to someone who needs it has made me realise the importance of giving it back to the community,” said Sri Kalash.
With the hard earned money, Sri Kalash has successfully donated 460 pairs of shoes, worth over 1 lakh rupees, to Zilla Parishad High School Venkateshwara Nagar. He was welcomed
by the local Sarpanch, and his work was displayed with great gratitude by the headmaster. He was also felicitated with a shawl as their token of appreciation. Sri Kalash went onto discuss his immense passion for giving back to the community through this project.
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